FRESH FAVA'S

Yeah, It is Spring! These are the first Fava beans that have been harvested. The Fava plant is very easy to grow. The seeds were put in the ground last November and pretty much forgotten. They are all purpose plants. They add nitrogen to the soil. The flowers are very pretty. You can eat the leaves, pods and beans. The leaves can be blanched and or cooked just like spinach. The whole pod can be eaten like a regular green bean when immature. When they are juveniles you can eat the seed inside the pod without blanching. When they are a teenager, you will need to blanch the seed to remove the membrane protecting the kernel. "It is a lot of work for what you get! (William A Brown)". When they are seniors , you can use the seed as any other dried legume.

My favorite time to eat fava's is in the teenager stage. You peel the seeds from the pod. You plunge them in some boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and cool. Pinch the seeds to peel membrane from the seeds. Place them in a bowl and add salt, olive oil and some minced garlic. Eat these beans of spring with a salad and enjoy.